Political Ecumenism

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Geoffrey Adams argues that the creation of La France libre and its assumption of power constitute a major turning point in modern French history. Charles de Gaulle was both the representative of a predominantly Catholic France and leader of the republican cause. By attracting key personalities from the nation's "three religious families" - Catholics, Jews, and Protestants - to the Free French banner he created a precedent-setting coalition based on political ecumenism. Following the liberation of Paris, his provisional government was recognized by France's ecclesiastical and political establishments - reuniting the Two Frances (revolutionary and counter-revolutionary), which had been in conflict since the l790s. Adams examines the contributions of such major Frangais libres as Reni Cassin, Pierre Mendhs France, and Jacques Soustelle and explores de Gaulle's troubled relations with Churchill and Roosevelt. The opportunity for Gaullists to offer full membership to the fourth religious family, Algeria's Muslim majority, following the liberation of French North Africa is also considered. In an epilogue, Adams reflects on the impact of Free France's political ecumenism in the postwar era.